SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Eisenberg Center for Clincial Decisions and Communications Sciences
- Notice Date
- 11/27/2012
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Contracts Management, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, Maryland, 20850
- ZIP Code
- 20850
- Solicitation Number
- AHRQ-13-10006
- Point of Contact
- Kenya C. Crawford, Phone: 3014271705, Annmarie L. Keane, Phone: 301-427-1184
- E-Mail Address
-
Kenya.Crawford@ahrq.hhs.gov, Annmarie.Keane@ahrq.hhs.gov
(Kenya.Crawford@ahrq.hhs.gov, Annmarie.Keane@ahrq.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. Background In 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) was enacted into law. Section 1013 of MMA authorizes AHRQ to conduct research, demonstrations, and evaluations designed to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The essential goals of the Section 1013 mandate are to develop valid evidence, and make it easily accessible to decision makers, about the comparative effectiveness of different treatments and appropriate clinical approaches to an array of health problems. Achieving these goals will encompass reviewing, synthesizing, and translating published and unpublished scientific evidence, as well as identifying important issues for which existing scientific evidence is insufficient for making adequate decisions about health care. To fulfill its mandate, AHRQ established the Effective Health Care (EHC) Program, the primary purpose of which is to develop research to inform the health care decisions of patients, consumers, providers and policymakers among others. A description of the EHC Program is available on the web site (www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov). The EHC Program consists of three primary components, each with a unique, yet interacting purpose. One component conducts syntheses of scientific evidence, another generates new scientific evidence and analytic tools, and the third component, the "John M. Eisenberg Clinical Decisions and Communications Sciences Center" translates scientific findings for various audiences. The Eisenberg Center was created in 2005 and is a multi-disciplinary center that translates and disseminates the scientific information resulting from evidence synthesis or evidence generation activities into a form which is readily understandable and can be incorporated into decision making for various audiences, namely consumers, patients, providers and policy makers. Leveraging their unique skills, the Eisenberg Center assumes as their primary responsibility and objective to help end users understand complex scientific information, issues of balancing harms and benefits, numeracy and literacy issues, and cognitive dissonance. Purpose and Objectives The objective of the potential requirement will be to continue the established mission of the Eisenberg Center, i.e., facilitate access to and use of evidence-based clinical and health care delivery information and foster informed health care decisions by patients, providers and policymakers among others. The collective activities of the EC are intended to achieve the following objectives: 1. Increase awareness, access (cognitive and physical) and use of the EHC program research findings, its products, and activities. • Develop high quality translation and dissemination products that distill and interpret evidence synthesis and research findings for various audiences that can be used to inform health care decisions. • develop products and/or messages that can be adapted by others and integrated into their products or systems • Products tested with potential stakeholders to ensure understanding and intended options and action(s) 2. Facilitate program transparency and public engagement by maintaining the EHC web site which serves as the "public face" of the program • Conduct timely postings of products • Disseminate effective announcements inviting public comment and participation in activities 3. Increase the knowledge base in decision and communications science, and other relevant areas to inform decision making of multiple audiences (contribute to the state of the science) • Identify knowledge gaps in the translation and use of evidence by decision makers • Produce concept papers that address the knowledge gaps and other identified issues Project Requirements Please be mindful that while there are IT components in this project, this is NOT and IT requirement. The project will be content-driven, supported by information technology. There are eight (8) major tasks for this project, each having specific requirements and deliverables: Task 1: Translation and Dissemination - develop a process to produce products that present evidence findings derived from systematic reviews and research reports to various audiences; promote the dissemination of EHC research findings, products, and activities; and conduct research intended to enhance extant health information products. Task 2: Decision Aids - develop and update an interactive decision aid to assist in facilitating informed decisions based on scientific evidence, reflects individual values and preferences, and provides coaching or guidance. Task 3: Dissemination Research - develop a research agenda to address the challenges associated with the communication and dissemination of evidence based research findings to various audiences. Task 4: Consumer and Patient Activation and Engagement in EHC activities - secure involvement of advocacy organizations to participate in patient engagement activities; develop engagement plan for organizations in evidence-based and EHC activities; and implement activities and monthly reports. Task 5: White Paper Meeting - conduct a meeting to increase awareness of the state-of-the-art in the decision and communications sciences for those involved in evidence-based translations. Task 6: Web Site Maintenance, Enhancement and Dissemination Activities - maintain and update existing web access; maintain web enabled versions of decision aids and other EHC-related products; conduct postings of EHC products; and maintain user email and report nature of contacts. Task 7: Monitoring and Accountability - participate in conference calls; and provide status of translation product. Task 8: Contract Management/Work Plan Activities - provide general management; prepare and plan meetings; monthly progress reports; comprehensive work plans; final report; close-out/transition plan; and work with other Agency contractors and with Agency stakeholders. Anticipated Period of Performance The anticipated period of performance is August 5, 2013 - August 4, 2014 with four (4), one (1) year option periods, from August 5, 2014 - August 4, 2018. Capability Statement/Information Sought Interested qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement, not to exceed 10 single-sided pages (including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.), presented in single-space and using a 12-point font size minimum, that clearly details the ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above. Statements should include information regarding respondents': (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information. Capability statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status; this indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement, as well as the eligible small business concern's name, point of contact, address and DUNS number. Team members shall be comprised of a core staff of seasoned professionals in fields such as clinical health education, behavioral medicine, decision psychology, marketing and Web site services and development, writing, and editing. The proposed Project Director should hold, at a minimum, a doctoral or medical degree and have extensive experience in developing health information tools and program management. The Project Director should also have supervisory work experience in one of the following fields: health services research, clinical health education, behavioral medicine, decision psychology, or communications science; and demonstrated skills in organizing and monitoring complex projects conducted by groups of diverse professionals. The Project Manager, if used, should hold at a minimum, a master's degree in a health and human services-related specialty and 1) work experience in health education, health services research, or behavioral medicine; 2) demonstrated skills in developing information products for diverse audiences; and 3) demonstrated skills in organizing and monitoring complex projects conducted by groups of diverse professionals. It is AHRQ's expectation that at least one topic-specific content expert will be included as key personnel for each information product. Information Submission Instructions All capability statements sent in response to this SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Kenya Crawford, Contract Specialist, at Kenya.Crawford@ahrq.hhs.gov in Microsoft Word (MS) or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), by December 5, 2012, 12:00 PM EST. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. ANY RESPONSES RECEIVED AFTER THAT DATE AND TIME WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. Disclaimer and Important Notes This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organizations' qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitations.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/AHRQ/DCM/AHRQ-13-10006/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02937791-W 20121129/121127234530-f16d201c1583e49cb0a316ef9fdee350 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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